1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle engine cooling system for releasing the heat generated while an engine operates, to an air through a cooling water circulation system thereby to stabilize operation of the engine and to retain durability of the engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles, particularly passenger cars, are categorized into a front engine type, in which the engine is mounted on the front side of the front wheel axles, a rear engine type, in which the engine is mounted on the back side of the rear wheel axles, and a midship type, in which the engine is mounted between the front and rear wheel axles. The front and rear engine types can provide large cabins so that they are adopted in a so-called “family car.” The midship type is adopted in a special vehicle such as a sports car because the midship type is excellent in maneuverability such as turning ability although a cabin space is limited.
Here, the car-mounted engine generates heat when the engine operates. In order to prevent operation failures or early deterioration due to excessively high temperature of the engine components, there has been adopted an engine cooling system. The heat is carried out of the engine through cooling water in the cooling water circular system and releases the engine heat to the atmosphere.
In the engine cooling system of this kind, the heat absorbed by the cooling water in the engine body is guided to a heat exchanger, a radiator, arranged outside of the engine, and the heat in the heated cooling water is released to the atmosphere so that the cooling water temperature is lowered. The cooling water thus cooled is returned again to the engine body. No matter whether the vehicle is the front, rear or midship types, the radiator is generally disposed near the engine so that it can exchange the heat by guiding a running wind from the outside into the radiator through the running wind passage. However, the radiator of related art is formed into a ventilating thick plate shape by overlaying a number of thin pipes and radiator fins individually. This structure causes weight increase, cost increase or restriction in the freedom of the engine room layout.
JP-A-61-150822 discloses a cooling system, which the conventional radiator is excluded by forming the radiator into a panel shape, by constituting the panel-shaped radiator into a roof, and uses the heat-exchanging function of the panel-shaped radiator with the running wind. Moreover, JP-A-61-150824 discloses a cooling system, in which the conventional radiator is excluded by forming the radiator into a panel shape, by constituting the panel-shaped radiator into an engine hood, and by using the heat-exchanging function of the panel-shaped radiator with the running wind.